Steak & Eggs

Caring for Animals & Creating Trust in Food

Jane Dukes, associate director, Value Chain and Consumer Affairs, speaks with John Stika, a meat scientist and President of Certified Angus Beef and Emily Metz, President and CEO of the American Egg Board. May is National Beef Month and National Egg Month and so in this episode our industry leading guests join us to recognize the contributions of layer farmers and cattle ranchers while gaining insights into the beef and egg industries. John guides grassroots programs and delivers premium beef from family farmers and ranchers to consumer’s dinner tables. Emily has worked as the head of Global Research and Development Communications and New Product Marketing for the world’s largest animal genetics company. Together they discuss how the agriculture industry can better interact and engage with consumers.

“Consumers do not buy on price alone. They buy in price in relation to value. And if you understand what consumers value and you align your production systems for those to align with that. I think the opportunity is there to be the financial beneficiary of that alignment and those decisions. I think the data supports the optimism that we're seeing from a production standpoint and a beef merchandising standpoint for the demand that consumers have for our products not just here in the US but around the world.” - John Stika

In a consumer research study conducted last year, two-thirds of consumers reported transparency in animal protein is extremely or very important, but only 35 percent of consumers surveyed feel the animal protein industry is transparent about sustainability or animal care/treatment. The egg industry is currently on a mission to simplify labels and allow consumers easier access to information in selecting their eggs based on what their family needs and the values they want to support.

“We need to do a better job of talking about what those different production styles and practices really mean and making sure that people understand that there are trade offs. And I frankly think this is a conversation that probably agriculture needs to have across the board. There's no one silver bullet in terms of production and there's trade-offs in everything.” - Emily Metz

This Week’s Podcast:

• Meet John Stika, is a meat scient ist and President of Certified Angus Beef and Emily Metz, President and CEO of the American Egg Board.
• Explore the commonalities between the egg and beef industry in addressing consumer concerns and expectations
• Discover the discussions that are being had to encourage transparency in the agriculture industry and those yet to come

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